Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Poison in the Pills?

Ever since receiving the inheritance of the Medicine King Sect, Ye Chu Xue had studied alchemy day and night. She barely slept. She even neglected her cultivation, pouring everything into the furnace and the flame.

And at last—today—she had successfully refined a fifth-grade pill.

That meant she now qualified to refine an antidote. As long as she found the remaining ingredients, she could completely purge the poison from her body.

A smile rose despite herself. She stepped forward and lifted the tray slightly.

“Sorry,” Ye Chu Xue said, deliberately modest, “I only refined three pills this time.”

“But all three are mid-grade.”

The crowd went wild.

“Senior Sister Ye, you’re amazing! Half a year, from beginner to fifth-grade—and mid-grade on your first try? You’re a genius!”

“Yeah! You’re even better than Grandmaster Song was back then!”

“Senior Sister Ye, you’ll definitely be the next alchemy grandmaster!”

“We’ll always support Senior Sister Ye!”

Flattery spilled like water. After all, these were fifth-grade pills. Outside the sect, one pill could cost a fortune. Many of them could empty their savings and still never afford one.

But Ye Chu Xue was giving them away for free.

Free treasure falling from the sky—of course they’d praise until their tongues went numb.

Ye Chu Xue basked in it, warmth blooming in her chest. No one else would be as selfless as she was. Most people looked down on ordinary disciples. She didn’t.

Even the most ordinary person deserved respect.

She lifted a hand, smiling brightly. “All right. Quiet.”

As usual, she drew lots on the spot. Whoever was chosen would receive a pill.

Soon, three names were called. The lucky disciples nearly cried as they accepted their prizes, bowing and thanking her over and over, drowning in the envy around them.

“This is perfect,” one female disciple blurted, trembling with excitement. “I’ve been stuck at Qi Refining Stage level nine for years. With this pill, I’ll break through in one shot!”

Before anyone could stop her, she popped the pill into her mouth right there.

The crowd stared, jealousy burning in their eyes.

“Wu Dan is insanely lucky.”

“If she reaches Qi Refining Stage level 10, she might have a shot at Foundation Establishment…”

“Look—she’s really about to break through!”

Wu Dan’s aura began to surge. Spiritual qi in the area streamed toward her, swirling, gathering.

Ye Chu Xue raised her brows slightly, satisfaction curling at the edge of her mouth as her gaze drifted toward Cloudsky Peak.

[Song Wan Ning, do you see it?]

[When you come out of seclusion, you’ll realize everything has changed.]

[So what if you’re an alchemy grandmaster? What’s so great about that?]

[You spent more than a hundred years. I only need one.]

[Song Wan Ning is a joke.]

She barely had time to savor the thought before the air shifted.

Something went wrong.

Instead of a clean breakthrough, Wu Dan suddenly convulsed. A mouthful of black blood sprayed across the ground, and she collapsed with a heavy thud.

For a beat, everyone froze—stunned into silence.

Then panic exploded.

“Wu Dan!”

“Wu Dan, wake up!”

“What’s wrong with her?”

Ye Chu Xue’s heart dropped. She shoved through the crowd. “Move!”

She knelt and grabbed Wu Dan’s wrist. Black lines were spreading along Wu Dan’s meridians, creeping up toward her face like poison ink.

Poison.

Everyone’s eyes snapped to the pill Wu Dan had swallowed. Then, as if pulled by the same thread, they turned to the other two disciples still clutching their pills.

Those two went rigid, terror flooding their faces. Eat them? Throw them away? Their hands shook too hard to decide.

“Senior Sister Ye,” someone said, voice unsteady, “Wu Dan is poisoned. Could it be… the pill?”

Ye Chu Xue’s face tightened. “Impossible. My pills are absolutely fine.”

She scooped Wu Dan into her arms. “I’m taking her to Martial Uncle Lan.”

This was supposed to be a good deed. She could not—would not—let the blame land on her.

The commotion swept through the sect like wildfire. Before long, the Sect Master and elders were alerted, and everyone gathered at Lan Le’s peak to await his diagnosis.

Lan Le examined Wu Dan, his expression growing heavier by the breath. At last, he straightened.

“Reporting to the Sect Master,” he said, voice grim, “this disciple has been poisoned. The toxin has entered her lungs and dantian. If she can’t be cured within three days, her cultivation will regress, and she’ll have no hope of advancing in the future.”

A cold shiver ran through the crowd.

Lan Le frowned harder. “At present, I still haven’t identified what poison it is.”

Poisons in the Cultivation World were far more complex than those in the mortal realm. Recorded types numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and many were variations layered with spiritual effects. If you couldn’t trace the source, treatment became a nightmare.

Someone swallowed audibly. “Even Grandmaster Lan can’t tell what poison it is?”

“But Wu Dan was fine just now. It was only after she ate Senior Sister Ye’s pill…”

The disciples’ eyes drifted, unwillingly, back to Ye Chu Xue.

Ye Chu Xue stiffened. “She did eat my pill, but there is absolutely no poison in it. She must have been poisoned for some other reason.”

Her fingers tightened as she quietly crushed the message talisman Gu Qing Yuan had given her.

“If you don’t believe me,” she added quickly, “then examine the other two pills.”

“Bring them here.” Lan Le lifted a hand.

The two pills flew from the disciples’ trembling hands and landed in his palm. He examined them, crushed them, inspected the powder, then summoned a small bird from the sky and fed it a pinch.

Everyone stared so hard they forgot to breathe.

The bird swallowed, fluttered its wings, and flew up.

Higher.

Farther.

It seemed fine.

Relief burst through Ye Chu Xue like sunlight. “See? I told you—this has nothing to do with my pills. It’s a fifth-grade Spirit-Gathering Pill—”

The words died in her throat.

The bird midair suddenly thrashed, its body twisting violently. Its shriek pierced the air, sharp enough to make ears ring. Then it dropped straight down, landing in front of Ye Chu Xue’s pristine white spirit boots.

It twitched once.

Twice.

Then went completely still.

Ye Chu Xue went deathly pale.

How…?

There really was poison?

Impossible. She had followed the inheritance exactly. Step by step. Not a single deviation.

The crowd erupted.

“So it really is Senior Sister Ye’s pill?”

“Senior Sister Ye’s pill is poisonous?”

“Then what about all the pills from before?”

“What’s going on? Isn’t she supposed to be amazing? How could there be poison in her pills?”

Suspicion piled onto Ye Chu Xue like stones, each voice adding weight.

The Sect Master’s face darkened, irritation flickering in his eyes.

Ye Chu Xue should have been refining pills properly—how had she managed to stir up this kind of mess?